The Sweet Routine

We are officially back into the sweet rhythm of the beginning of a school year.  It's a very comfortable place for me, because being forced into a routine is soothing.  Yesterday was mapped out from the time I opened my eyes until I went to bed, which allowed for very little time for me to sit on my arse feeling gross about the fact that I was sitting on my arse.

The kids first day was just as I expected--uneventful.  It was as if they were returning to school after a long weekend.  The only difference was that hubby and I were informed that we were no longer needed for the walk down the driveway to wait for the bus.  Sigh.  I had to ask their permission to at least allow us to go, just this one day.  Hubby had taken the day off so he could see them off on their first day of school, and we wanted to get some pictures!  So we did walk them down there, but we headed back to the house before the bus got there.  Of course we ducked into the trees like a couple of idiots to secretly take more pictures....  No wonder they don't want us around.

When they got home they were very cheerful, said it was a good day, and raided the kitchen.  The most I could really get out of them was that they liked their teachers and there were chicken nuggets for lunch.  Then I went through their backpacks and did my "homework" (the ginormous pile of forms we parents have to fill out every year), and fixed dinner.  From there it was off to football practice.  Then home again, 30 minutes for the kids to chill out, then showers and bedtime.  And for me, two episodes of Sons of Anarchy and then bedtime.

My kids are really getting old.  It's bittersweet--as much as I miss their chubby cheeks, their tiny hands wanting to hold mine while we walk the driveway, making sure their bus tags are around their necks, and stuffing Spongebob backpacks, I love the young men they're becoming.  Now they're funny, nice kids, who wear Adidas sling backs and iPods.  They don't need me for the same things they used to, but they need me still.  And the nice thing is that I'm comfortable with the process.  Instead of getting teary when they get on the bus, hubby and are high-fiving each other and hurrying back to hop on the motorcycle.  We went out for breakfast, ran some errands, and just enjoyed the freedom for a while.  Although, we did drive around the school on the way home to see if we could catch them outside.  We didn't.

Yesterday, on Facebook, I saw a steady stream of pictures my friends were posting on their pages of their kids on their first day of school.  I loved it!  It's fun to see yet again, how we really are all the same, in so many ways.  We are all so proud of our kids, our families.  And all these kids looked so cute!  So thanks for posting them all, if any of you are reading this.

So back to normal I go.  Today I'm running errands.  I know, I did that yesterday.  But you can't really go grocery shopping on a motorcycle.  Maybe I'll get some time to do some cleaning.  I'm meeting up with my chihuahua friend this week for coffee.  I've been seeing more of her lately--an excellent benefit of both of us having a football family.

And oh, this weekend!  I see an anniversary and a Gopher game in my future...